STATE 4-H CONGRESS 2018

General Information Packet

June 25-28, 2018

If you are a person with a disability and desire any assistive devices, services or other accommodations to participate in this activity, please contact Mellissa Breen, State 4-H Office, at 540-231-6372/TDD*) during business hours of 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. to discuss accommodations 5 days prior to the event. *TDD number is (800) 828-1120

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TOPIC PAGE

Congress Mission & Goals3

2018 Program Information & Highlights3-6

Congress Competition Areas7-8

Congress Competition Policies and Guidelines9-10

Competition Workshop Descriptions11-12

GSS Workshop Descriptions13-15

CHARACTER COUNTS! at 4-H Congress16

Code of Conduct and Dress Code17-20

Congress Heroes Program21

Forms22

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Mission of Virginia 4-H State Congress

The mission of Virginia 4-H State Congress is to provide competitive and non-competitive educational experiences to Virginia teens and the adults who work with them, helping them to develop life skills and leadership abilities to become contributing citizens in their communities.

Goals of Virginia 4-H State Congress

  1. Provide a high-quality educational experience for 4-H youth ages 14-18.
  2. Promote 4-H as a major statewide educational youth program;
  3. Provide educational, recreational and social experiences for youth that would not normally be available at the unit or district level;
  4. Enhance skill development through all 4-H Congress activities including the Great Summer Showcase, Service Learning, & Competitions;
  5. Recognize all competition and award winners in front of their peers at a Statewide event;
  6. Recognize the support of volunteer adult 4-H leaders that support 4-H Congress;
  7. Promote an understanding of the value of diversity among Congress participants;
  8. Enhance delegate’s sense of personal and social responsibility through an environment that fosters independence, accountability, decision-making and time management.

2018 PROGRAM INFORMATION & HIGHLIGHTS

MONDAY EVENING WELCOME PICNIC AND MIXER:On Monday evening, you will get an opportunity to enjoy an informal welcome picnic which will be held on the GLC Lawn. This picnic will consist of music, food, and fellowship designed to allow delegates to mix and mingle and get to know each other in an informal setting.

CONGRESSIONAL GAMES: Congressional Games this year will provide teens with opportunities to participate in corn hole, basketball, volleyball, kickball, board games and much more. Congressional Games will be the Tuesday evening program and pre-registration will be required. Delegates will need to sign up for a specific competitive activity or the non-competitive board game and card room. All delegates must first go to the game that they pre-registered for, however once that game is completed, delegates may move to other games. All Delegates must participate in Congressional Games (competitive or non-competitive) and participants must check-in at the game they pre-registered for to confirm attendance. Please remember to pack appropriate attire for the Congressional Game you sign up for. Congressional Games are assigned on a first come, first served basis so be sure to register within 4Honline and submit payment on or before the deadline.

DANCES: Two dances will be held. Monday evening's dance will be informal; this is another great opportunity for delegates to mingle and meet other Congress participants. Wednesday evening's dance will be a semi-formal dance. Both dances will include a VARIETY of music. Alternate recreation will be available for those delegates who choose not to attend the dances.

GREAT SUMMER SHOWCASE: The “Great Summer Showcase” (GSS) will provide 4-H Congress delegates with exciting learning opportunities, including hands-on, interactive workshops in afternoon sessions. Workshops will be three (3) hours in length. Participants can choose from one of four different content areas. The workshop areas include: Animal Science, Healthy Living, Environmental Education, Leadership, Citizenship, and STEM (Technology, Engineering and Math; Science is included in separate animal science and environmental science tracks). There is a listing of 2018 workshops on the Congress website. REMINDER: Workshops are assigned on a first come, first served basis so be sure to register within 4-Honline and submit payment on or before deadline. For those delegates registering themselves in 4HOnline, they will not need to rank their choices. They will just choose the workshop they would like to attend. If the unit office will be registering on behalf of the youth, the unit will have to have their delgates rank their choices.

4-H STATE COMPETITIONS: 4-H members have a chance to compete with their peers from across the state. Please review the policy and guidelines found in this packet. Participants with high scores in each blue ribbon category will be highlighted at the Share-The-Fun Show on Wednesday. Please see the competition information for more details.

2018COMPETITION WORKSHOPS:For delegates who will not be competing in competitions on Tuesday morning, we will be offering competition workshops to introduce delegates to the various competition areas available through 4-H. Delegates will choose their top selections and sessions will be filled on a first come, first-served basis. A service learning project will be available for those not wishing to learn about competitions. For those delegates registering themselves in 4HOnline, they will not need to rank their choices. They will just choose the workshop they would like to attend. If the unit office will be registering on behalf of the youth, the unit will have to have their delegates rank their choices.

Workshops include but not limited to:

  1. Introduction to EquiSmarts
  2. LifeSmarts
  3. Intro to Nat’l 4-H Forestry Invitational
  4. Extemporaneous Speaking
  5. Service Learning Project –VT Engage and Micah’s Backpack

RECOGNITION OF 4-H ALL STARS: This year marks the 97th Anniversary of Virginia 4-H All Stars. During 4-H Congress, those who will be tapped into the All Stars will be recognized during an opening assembly program and the tapping ceremony will be held on Wednesday afternoon. Newly tapped 4-H All Stars will be invited to Share the Fun Show on Wednesday evening. In addition, All-Stars would like to collect two digital pictures of each delegate who will be tapped into All-Stars, preferably pictures depicting members in their major 4-H project area. Please email these to Mellissa Breen at by May 14. Be sure to include the following in the subject line: “All Star Photo” and the All Star’s name. For example, All Star Photo – Susie Smith.

ALL STAR TAPPING: The All-Star tapping will be held on the Drillfield in front of the War Memorial Chapel on Wednesday afternoon (2:30-3:30 PM). All delegates are expected to attend the All-Star tapping.

ALL STAR ORIENTATION: The All-Star orientation will be held on Wednesday from 3:30-4:30 PM.

ALL STAR ICE CREAM SOCIAL:This event will be held on Tuesday from 8:30 – 10:00 PM during the Congressional Games at War Memorial Gym. This event is sponsored by the Virginia 4-H All Stars.

CAREER & LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT EXPERIENCE:This year we will be having a new and excitingCareer and Leadership Developmentexperience that will involve three components which include: (1)College, Career, and Military Fair; (2) youth voice and assessment on career awareness and perceptions of civic engagement; and (3) tours of Virginia Tech campus for all Congress participants on Wednesday morning.

Colleges across Virginia Tech will be offering an in-depth view of their particular departments and potential career options available. Virginia Tech has eight academic departments including; Agriculture and Life Sciences, Architecture and Urban Studies, Pamplin College of Business, Engineering, Liberal Arts and Human Sciences, Natural Resources and Environment, Science, and Veterinary Medicine. In addition toVirginia Land grantuniversitieswithin Virginia Tech and Virginia State University, other universities will be invited to highlight their programs as well.

For those who have already selected a college or who might not be interested in higher education, you will have an opportunity to engage with Virginia Tech Career Services, campus tours, visit displays highlighting several careers, give your opinion on perception of civic engagement, and/or talk with the military. No pre-registration will be required.

SHARE-THE-FUN SHOW and STATE AWARDS: This year’s Share-the-Fun Show will highlight outstanding performing art acts. The public, including delegate families, are invited to attend. In addition to Share-The-Fun, all competition winners will be honored for their achievements, and the 2018 National 4-H Congress Delegation will be announced. The show will be held in Burruss Hall on Wed. June 27, 2018 beginning at 7pm.

MONDAY NIGHT PIZZA PARTY: Leave your money at home and join in on the fun as we begin the week of Congress with laughs, pizza, and fun for everyone! The pizza party will be held during the dance on Monday night.

STATE 4-H LEADERSHIP POSITIONS: Consider running for a State 4-H Ambassador or Cabinet Officer position. Information about the positions and the application form will be posted on the 2018 Congress website in April. The application deadline is May 21. Qualifying candidates will need to have their campaign speech approved by their 4-H agent or program assistant before coming to Congress. See elections packet for specific information.

BILLS FOR BRAZIL: Virginia 4-H is working in Brazil, South America to involve Brazilian youth in CHARACTER COUNTS! and positive youth development. Training has been conducted for school teachers, principals, judges, and community leaders in Joinville, Santa Catarina; Passos, Minas Gerais; and Natal, Rio Grande Do Norte. Funds are needed for training and supplies for their efforts in CHARACTER COUNTS! and positive youth development. Please help support the “Bills for Brazil” project to continue to grow and expand the 4-H work in Brazil. You’ll have an opportunity to donate to this importance cause during Congress, so bring your bills!

SERVICE LEARNING PROJECT: This years’ service learning project will be hosted by VT Engage and Micah’s Backpack. Community service is always a special part of the 4-H Congress, come and participate in Service Learning with VT Engage! During this session, participants will learn about how to make their volunteering efforts more impactful in their own communities. Come and learn about how to move yourself along the Active Citizens Continuum, how to think more deeply about your service and leadership efforts, and how to have a greater impact on your own community and the issues you care about! Also during this session, participants will also gain ideas here on campus to help create action and progress at home!

CONGRESS DELEGATION PHOTO: The entire Congress delegation will come together for a group photo on the Drillfield in front of Burruss on Tuesday evening. The photos of the Delegation may be purchased for $5.00 each. Delegates must pay for photos in advance through the registration system. Photos will be provided to units during Congress.

UNIT PHOTOGRAPHS: Unit delegation photos are scheduled for Wednesday and more details will follow once delegates arrive on site. Delegates and chaperones will be in semi-formal attire. Each unit will be designated a time slot for their photo. The unit photos may be purchased for $5.00 each. Only those participants from the Unit that paid for their photo will be provided a copy.

CONGRESS SLIDESHOW DVD: Do you ever wish you could have a copy to take home of the slideshow that is produced at Congress? Well now you can! DVDs with the 2018 Congress Slideshow can now be purchased for $5.00 each. DVDs will be mailed to the units for distribution after Congress.

CHARACTER COUNTS!: The six pillars of character are trustworthiness, respect, responsibility, fairness, caring, and citizenship. They provide the foundation of which Virginia 4-H character is grounded. Each participant will be expected to use these six pillars to guide their thoughts and conduct throughout the week. To assure that good character is kept in the forefront of delegates minds we will be celebrating one or two pillars each day.

Monday, June 25th – Respect & Trustworthiness Day

Tuesday, June 26th – Caring & Responsibility Day

Wednesday, June 27st – Citizenship Day

Thursday, June 28nd – Fairness Day

REGISTRATIONPROCESS FOR DELEGATES AND ADULTS:Complete allpaperformsreceived from your unit Extension Office. Be sure to select your competition area if you are competing this year, choose yourCompetition Workshop (if you are not competing), and Great Summer Workshop return all paper work with payment to your local Extension Office. Registration in the online registration system and registering for workshops will begin on April 23. Please check with your unit office to see how online registration will be handled in your locality. The unit office will be provided a handout with instructions on how to register all youth and adult participants within the 4-H Online Events System. Payments will be due to the State Office on May 21.

STATE 4-H AREAS OF COMPETITION

Held at State 4-H Congress; Congress registration (1 day or 4 days) required

Chicken Que †

Egg Preparation Demonstration †

Extemporaneous Speaking

Fashion Revue – Constructed Garment Fashion Revue – Purchased Garment

Food Challenge – Texas Food Challenge Site

Presentation – Animal Science – Dairy/Livestock/Poultry/Horse*/Camelid/Domestic Food or Fiber Animal Examples: How to Groom a Horse, Dairy Free Stall Barn Design, How to Shear an Alpaca

Presentation – Animal Science – Pet

Examples: Geckos, Dogs, Cats, Exotic animals

Presentation – Careers, Entrepreneurship, & Economic Education

Examples: How to Start Your Own Business, Careers that Interest Me, How to Budget Money

Presentation – Citizenship and Leadership

Examples: The History of the Constitution, How to Be a Good Citizen in My School, Parliamentary Procedure

Presentation – Food Demonstration (includes food preparation)

Examples: How to Make Chocolate Chip Cookies, How to Preserve Garden Vegetables

Presentation – Food Knowledge

Examples: How to Prevent Foodborne Illness, Cooking Methods for Beef, Gluten Free Recipes

Presentation – Home, Family & Personal Management

Examples: How to Prepare Meals on a Budget, Furniture Upholstery, How to Manage Your Time More Efficiently

Presentation – Natural Resources & Environmental Education – Examples: Forestry, Wildlife, Conservation, Fisheries, Recycling

Presentation – Nutrition, Health, and/or Fitness

Examples: How to Prepare to Run a 5K, Proper Tooth Care and Hygiene, Vitamins and Minerals

Presentation – Outdoor Adventure, Sports & Recreation

Examples: Fishing, Hunting, Trapping, How to Dribble a Basketball, Safety Gear for Rock Climbing

Presentation – Communications & Performing Arts

Examples: Ballet, Knowledge presentations about instruments (How to Care for your Violin), HAM radio, How to Give a Presentation

Presentation – Plants, Soils, & Entomology

Examples: The Importance of the Honey Bee, Establishing a Community Garden, Amending Soil to Grow Fruit Trees, How to Grow a Plant from a Seed, Understanding Invasive Plant Species

Presentation – Shooting Education

Examples: Understanding Shooting Disciplines, Precision and Accuracy for Hitting the Target, Safety Whistle Commands on the Archery Line

Presentation – Science, Technology, Engineering, Math (STEM Topics)

Examples: Minecraft, Coding, Web Page Design, Gravity, The Importance of the Triangle in Designing Structures, How to Use a 3D Printer, How to Create Effective PowerPoint Presentations

Presentation – Visual & Creative & Constructive Arts

Examples: Tie Dye, Friendship Bracelets, How to Make Paper, Duct Tape Art, How to Compose a Photo, Architecture Styles, How to Use a DSLR camera

Public Speaking

Table Setting

Radio Spot/4-H Promotion

Science Fair Presentation & Display Experiments, Research

Share The Fun – Combination

Share The Fun – Dance

Share The Fun - Drama

Share The Fun – Instrumental

Share The Fun – Variety

Share The Fun – Vocal

Turkey Que †

† = denotes national contest availability

* state winner for horse(and qualifying event for Southern Regional and Eastern National) is awarded at EquiSmartz, but horse presentations CAN compete at Congress

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State 4-H Congress Competition Policies and Guidelines

  1. Participants have a responsibility to review the rules, resource documents, and score sheets which can be found on the state 4-H website at:
  1. State contests will use the rules, score sheets, etc. posted only on the competitions web page listed above, regardless of how qualifying county and district contests are run. Local units and districts are encouraged to adopt and abide by the state rules out of fairness to youth participants. For contests in which there is a national event, contestants should check the national rules for any differences at that level of competition.
  1. 4-H Congress (and therefore state level competition at Congress) participation is limited to senior age 4-H youth, those ages 14-19 as of September 30 of the 4-H year. Mixed-age acts that competed at the unit or district level will be ineligible at the state level. (Example: four young people in a Share-the-Fun act where at least one is age 13 or less would not qualify.)
  1. All Congress competitors must have participated in a qualifying event whether at the unit or district level, depending on local situation. All units and districts are encouraged to hold contests prior to Congress.
  1. A list of sample topics is provided for additional information only. Participants are not limited on subjects, but do have to fit into one of the above categories. Contestants should be prepared to show judges the connection/correlation to the category area. Judges’ or contest managers’ decisions are final.
  1. Competition scoring will follow the Danish Awards System (Blue: 90-100; Red: 75-89; White: 74 and below). Overall high score blue ribbon winner in each category will receive a medal. Modifications have been made for competition categories where the total score is greater than 100 points.
  1. A 4-H member can participate in only one competitive event during Congress even if he/she qualified in more than one contest at previous levels of competition. It is difficult when youth are assigned to multiple competitive event locations and difficult to arrange the scheduling of two competitions to accommodate one individual at two different events.
  1. At 4-H Congress, the Share-the-Fun contests have limits on the number of acts each unit can send. Each unit may send one act per Share-the-Fun category.
  1. At 4-H Congress, the Electric Energy Challenge and Arc Welding have limits on the number of youth each unit can send. Each unit may send one youth in these categories.
  1. A unit may send more than one participant in all competition categories except Share-The-Fun, Arc Welding, and the Electric Energy Challenge. For example, a unit may send more than one 4-Her to compete in public speaking, fashion revue, presentations, etc. Check specific team contest rules for the number of teams and the number of participants on a team allowed in state competitions.
  1. The genre of presentations, demonstrations, public speaking, STF acts, fashion review garments, etc. must remain consistent between unit/district and state competitions. Improvements based on input provided by the last judging panel can be incorporated, but the genre of the work cannot be changed.
  1. Once a youth is the overall state winner in a competition category, he/she cannot compete in that category again at the state level. For instance, if a youth is the overall winner in vocal, he/she cannot compete in vocal again, but could compete in another category such as instrumental, variety, forestry, or foods, etc. State medal winners should not repurpose their act in order to try to fit into another category in another year.
  1. State competition contestants are encouraged to attend 4-H Congress, but are not required to. Competitors may register as one-day participants in order to compete. Pre-registration is required; see Congress information for deadlines.

Competition Workshop